Pizza For Algernon
by Tohdoh
Summary: Mikey gets injected with mutagen that gives him highly accelerated intelligence, which shortly degenerates into severe, life-threatening illness. Donnie, Raph, and Leo race for a cure to save their little brother. [Loosely inspired by the sci-fi short story "Flowers For Algernon"]
1. Not Needed

**Pizza For Algernon (1)**

**Not Needed**

Donnie pored over his mutagen experiments with meticulous care and extreme caution. Handling this volatile element was a delicate process. He and his brothers had seen the terrible consequences they've wrought on innocent people and animals. It was a good thing that they managed to make progress with getting to the cannisters before the Kraang did.

Donnie was just about to tip a beaker of water into a reaction tube of mutagen to dilute it when he stopped and shouted, "Mikey! Don't touch that!"

His little brother stopped just before his hand closed on a can of rejected mutagen. Mikey swiftly pulled his hand back. "Oh, uh...sorry, I thought that was...uh, soda."

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Lab protocol 101: never ever have food or drinks at the work bench. You know as well as I do that the can of rejected mutagen is _not_ soda!"

"Well, maybe you shouldn't put the stuff inside an actual soda can!" Mikey retorted. He jabbed his finger at the recycled can of Crush grape soda to make his point.

"I'm running low on proper lab equipment. I have to make do with the limited resources we have. Now be quiet. I have to dilute this mutagen."

"Can I help?" Mikey asked.

Donnie lowered his reaction tube to shoot an incredulous, horrified glance at him. "You, help? Sorry Mikey, you'll just be in my way. I can't trust you to give me a hand in any of these experiments when you don't know a thing about basic science."

"Sure I know some things. How about that time I made the antidote in that centrifudge so you, Leo, and Raph stopped turning into freaky wasp zombies?"

Donnie sighed with exasperation. "_Centrifuge_. And that was one time, Mikey. Sheer, dumb luck." He returned to his dilutions. "Go finish the leftover pizza or something. Unlike you, I'm actually doing some real work."

Mikey's shoulders slumped, and his older brother was oblivious to the sight of him trudging away. His gloom was short-lived, and he perked up at the sight of Raph sitting on the couch, hunched over from playing a handheld console. Mikey made a running dash and threw himself in the air to plop neatly right next to Raph. His older brother never batted an eye and kept on playing.

Mikey leaned over with interest. "Hey, what's that? A new game?"

"Yeah. It's pretty good," Raph replied offhandedly.

"Can I play it after you?"

Raph laughed. "Forget it, Mikey. This game is way over your head. It's not mindless button-smashing."

"I can play all kinds of games besides the mindless button-smashing type," Mikey insisted.

"Maybe you can play later. After I beat the next ten levels. Get your fat finger out of the screen; you're distracting me!"

"Your finger's just as fat as mine," Mikey mumbled.

His face fell and he promptly marched off to leave Raph to his new game. Mikey strayed into the dojo, where Leo was lost in executing a sequence of advanced katana techniques.

"Pssst! Hey, Leo! Looking for someone to spar with?"

Leo opened his eyes and froze in mid-pose. "I can't, Mikey. This new set Master Splinter wants me to learn is a solo endeavor."

"I don't know what that last word means, but I take it that you don't want me around."

Sensing his little brother's indignant tone, Leo relaxed his stance and properly faced Mikey. "Well, I guess I can use a little unwinding. This new technique is pretty hard on me."

Mikey brightened and he whipped out his twin nunchucks in a lightning-fast flurry. "Booyakasha! You make the first move, bro!"

Leo held aloft his katana with both hands and charged in a straight line. As usual, Mikey evaded. The youngest of the four turtles had always been fast and quick. To Leo's annoyance, he almost always used that agility to dodge attacks.

"You're fast, but not as fast as me!" Mikey said as he laughed.

"Stop backflipping away and actually try to disarm me," Leo said with irritation. "Dodging my katanas will only get you so far."

"Well, it's been helping me out pretty well," Mikey replied. "You're just saying that because you can't lay a finger on me."

"I'm annoyed with your fighting style," Leo frankly admitted. "Trying to do any traditional close-quarters combat is impossible with you."

"That's just not how I roll, Leo. You're you and I'm me. Nothing can change that, not even Master Splinter."

Leo lowered his katanas and let out a resigned sigh. "We're done here. I need to work more on the new techniques."

Mikey opened his mouth to argue, but held his tongue at the last second. Leo would just get even madder. He left the dojo feeling dejected. No one took him seriously. If anything, he felt more like a mascot, with all his annoying catchphrases and enemy-naming, than a valued member of the team. Sure, he was good at being goofy and funny, but he wanted to be good at other things, too. He knew just what he wanted when he felt down. He needed a box of hot, freshly delivered pizza.

Strangely enough, just as the thought struck him, the very smell wafted into his nostrils and filled his head like a balloon. He didn't remember any of his brothers ordering for pizza. Oh well. Mikey licked his lips and closed his eyes, focusing his mind and senses only on that smell. He followed it past the lair, into the sewers, and eventually to the surface.

Mikey muttered to himself all the while: "When I get that box of pizza, I'm gonna have it all to myself and not let any of them have it. I'm gonna order super special combo toppings only I like. That's all I'm ever good at doing, anyway: eating a whole box of pizza on my own."

Careful not to expose himself to the unaware masses, Mikey kept to the shadows and nimbly hopped across the rooftops, all the while keeping himself trained on the smell of pizza.

Little did he know that not too far from him, a group of Kraang disguised in their bizzare automatons were luring Mikey with a false trail. Just like luring a mouse with a cheese-laden trap.


	2. Trapped

**Thank you for all the favorites, follows and reviews so far. It's a very nice surprise. As for the fic's similarities to the original "Flowers For Algernon," the only thing I'm drawing from it is the fact that the main character becomes hyperintelligent and later suffers. I should've said earlier that being familiar with the original story beforehand is not required to read and enjoy this fic. Anyways, I hope the next few chapters won't disappoint.**

* * *

><p><strong>Pizza For Algernon (2)<strong>

**Trapped**

Mikey should have listened to common sense and reason. Then again, he hardly ever did. Thinking things through was not his strong suit. His emotionally-driven craving for pizza had let his guard down. He realized this too late when he followed the scent down an alley, and was suddenly ambushed by the Kraang. Mikey whipped out his nunchucks and crouched into a tense stance.

"What do you want, you weird chest brains?" he demanded angrily.

The human robot a leading Kraang controlled tapped into his Bluetooth headset. "Kraang, the one they call Michelangelo has fallen into our trap, as predicted."

"A trap?" The rusty cogs spun and grinded furiously in his head. He caught sight of a strange-looking piece of Kraang technology that emanated the exact same smell Mikey craved. Then he got it. He jabbed an accusing finger at them. "So it was _you_ who tricked me into thinking I smelled Supreme-Fudge-Marshmallow-Jalapeno!"

"Affirmative," the Kraang replied.

Mikey's eyes narrowed and he shook his head in disgust. "That's totally uncool, man. I wanted my pizza because I was sad, and now you're making me mad!"

Not surprisingly, the Kraang coldly ignored Mikey's hurt feelings. "The one they call Michelangelo shall come with us."

"That is so not happening!" Mikey swung his nunchucks and hollered out a wild yell as he lunged at the nearest group of Kraang. Bright purple blasts from the extraterrestial guns sailed harmlessly all around him as he managed to take out some of the slower ones with decisive jumps and kicks. The Kraang always had the advantage of more numbers on their side, and that couldn't be more painfully apparent when Mikey struggled to take them on all by himself. He regretted sneaking out of the lair alone.

He tried to hide his nervousness with a crooked grin as he fought. "My bros will be here soon, and we're gonna kick all your wrinkly pink butts before bedtime!"

"The probability of such an event is less than one percent," a nearby Kraang replied. It droned on: "The Kraang programmed the machine to emit a highly specific odor of that which you call Supreme-Fudge-Marshmallow-Jalapeno pizza. This is to draw out only the one they call Michelangelo, and no other that which they call the turtles."

Mikey's eyes flew wide with shock. "A trap...just for me?" 'But why?' Flutters of panic replaced the pangs of hunger in his stomach. His brothers weren't coming. He was outnumbered, and he didn't have the energy to fight them off forever. At least the Kraang had particularly terrible aim tonight. Mikey ricocheted from wall to ground like a pinball and sailed over like a breaching dolphin. He dodged the blasts with ease and impudently stuck out his tongue.

"What's the matter, Kraang? How are you gonna catch me if you can't even shoot right?" No sooner had he said that, he realized his mistake. The Kraang missed on purpose, and they got Mikey to move in such a way that he found himself backed into a corner, surrounded by pressing droves of Kraang. He shrank under the unrelenting gazes of their robots' dead eyes. He lashed out with his nunchucks in a desperate act of defiance. The Kraang closest to him lunged out with electrical rods, making yell in pain and writhe on the ground.

His eyes rolled back and his eyelids fluttered shut. His world went black.

* * *

><p>A sudden burst of flourescent light flooded the icy, dark room where the Ice Cream Kitty made its home. It shrank away and meowed with discontent.<p>

Donnie raised a hand in apology. "Sorry, Ice Cream Kitty. I'm just checking to see if Mikey ever ate the leftover pizza in here."

The mutated cat shook its head. Donnie frowned at this and closed the top door of the fridge. At the same time, Raph emerged from their younger brother's room and called, "He ain't in here!"

"He's not in the kitchen either," Donnie replied.

Leo joined them at the counter and folded his arms across his chest. "Where did he go?"

"Up to the surface...and up to no good, I bet," Raph said wryly.

Donnie sighed. "Let's go fetch him before he hurts himself."

The three turtles were in no hurry to leave; they had no idea of the dire peril Mikey had gotten himself into.

* * *

><p>Mikey stirred and let out a weak groan. He blinked open heavy eyelids and felt both sides of his shell creak as he tried to sit up.<p>

"Where am I?" he asked aloud. He didn't expect an answer. He squinted and peered around him. He couldn't see a thing. For a horrifying moment he thought he became blind. Then he looked down and barely saw outlines of his three fingered hands. He blew a sigh of relief. After a few more minutes, his eyes gradually adjusted to the dim darkness. He appeared to be in a holding cell of some sort. His heart sunk. The Kraang managed to take him captive. He had no idea how much time had passed since his capture, but he figured it had been a while.

"Leo, Raph, and Donnie will know something's wrong if I'm gone for this long," he reassured himself. "They'll be here to break me out of this place."

Mikey jolted at the sudden nearby sound of a small door unfastening, followed by some light object being dropped into his cell. He was even more shocked to hear a multitiude of tiny squeaking sounds. Mikey turned around and inched to the back of the cell. His eyes widened. There were mice! He shared a cell with hundreds of them, all gathering in a frenzy to snatch pieces of cheese the Kraang had dropped in.

Seeing the cheese made him realize how hungry he was. The audible rumble of his belly made it more obvious. The cell had a low ceiling that didn't let him stand up, so Mikey crouched on all fours and crawled up to the huddle of mice.

"Hey guys, care to spare some for a hungry mutant turtle?" He quickly drew his hand back when several mice snapped at him. They huddled greedily over the cheese, their cheeks puffing as they gnawed up the pieces between their sharp teeth.

Mikey's shoulders slumped and he turned away. "Man, even the mice don't like me," he said gloomily. Seconds passed, then he felt a little nudge at his knee that made him look down. A little white mouse, with dwarfed large pink ears and an even pinker tail, had a chunk of cheese stuffed in its mouth. It stared back up at Mikey with wide black eyes. It nudged him again.

He raised his eyebrows. "You...you want me to have this piece of cheese?" He stretched out his hand, and to his delight, the mouse dropped the cheese into his palm. Mikey brought it to his mouth and chewed, feeling much better in terms of both hunger and emotional needs.

"Thanks, little guy," he said between a stuffed mouth. "You're a pretty cool mouse, you know that?"

He was tempted to give it a name, as he always did with animal friends and foes he came across, but at the last second he chose to say nothing. Mikey couldn't forget the time Raph asked why he insisted on giving everything a silly, stupid name. One of the million reasons why none of his brothers took him seriously.

Mikey let the little mouse crawl into his hand and he curled up with his knees tucked against his chest. "I wanna name you, but I can't think of anything good," he muttered. "Maybe Donnie can name you if we ever manage to get out. He's the geek; he'll probably give you a cool, smart name. Hey, you can come live with me and my bros if you want. We're way better than the Kraang. We even have a dad who's a rat. I dunno if mice and rats get along, but you'd like him. He's the best dad and sensei ever. Maybe he can even teach you some cool ninjutsu."

His rambling made a hollow sound that was quickly lost in the isolated confines of the cell. He had no idea why the Kraang wanted him in particular, and he wasn't keen on sticking around to find out. Until then, he found comfort in his new, temporarily unnamed friend.

* * *

><p><strong>To be honest I don't remember exactly which weird pizza topping Mikey liked in the show. I just remember that he has an awful taste in pizza.<strong>


	3. To the Rescue

**Pizza For Algernon (3)**

**To the Rescue**

Raph scowled as the notification for "Missed Call" popped up on his T-phone for the third time. He fought back the urge to hurl it to the ground as he and his brothers sailed over the rooftops.

"Don't worry about the T-phone, Raph," Donnie said. "Even if he doesn't pick up, I've got his biosignature traced, and we're on the right path." With his handheld tracking device, Donnie led Leo and Raph on the search to find Mikey. It led them straight to TCRI, much to their dismay.

Leo's face fell. "Just as I feared. Mikey got tangled up with the Kraang somehow."

"We need a plan," Donnie said.

Raph gave a deft twirl of his sai. "The plan is to bust Mikey out of there, and that's the only plan we need!" he hotly declared.

"No wait, we have to-"

Raph ignored Donnie as he jumped ahead. Leo followed after him, twin katanas drawn. Donnie bit back a frustrated groan as he drew out his bo staff and leapt forward to catch up. He tried to bring some sense into them as they ran.

"Guys, we'll run into just as much trouble as Mikey if we're not careful! We need to stop and think!"

Raph was incredulous. "Easy for you to say, brainiac. We can't just do that when our little brother's in danger!"

"Donnie's right," Leo interjected. "How about we sneak into the facility and find out why they caught Mikey in the first place? It might give us clues to where he's actually held."

For Raph's sake, Donnie got to the point. "Sounds sensible. Let's move and split up. Send a text on the T-phone if you see anything and we'll meet at a rendezvous."

They dispersed like quick bursts of shadows. Raph snuck into a nearby garage to find a strange-looking machine not too far from the entrance. He crept closer, detecting faint traces of a peculiar yet familiar smell. Then he got a proper whiff of it, and his face wrinkled in disgust.

"Supreme-Fudge-Marshmallow-Jalapeno pizza...I bet that's what the Kraang used to lure Mikey." But why go through such trouble to target only him? The troubling uncertainty greatly unsettled Raph. He paused for a moment to let his brothers know through text.

Perched on the rooftops, Leo read the message and his eyes narrowed. What could the Kraang be after?

Donnie took care to infiltrate the Kraangs' facility with quick, quiet, and nimble steps. He received Raph's text and he clenched his jaw. Going through all that trouble just to capture one turtle...that couldn't be good. They better find Mikey soon. He crept in farther and was greeted by the familiar sight of stark white walls and glowing purple conduits running along the ceiling. He snuck down a hallway filled with many rooms maintained for a myriad of purposes. One that caught his eye was a door that read "Superneuro Mutagen Laboratory." He had never heard of Superneuro Mutagen before. He didn't like the sound of it.

Even before his lightning-quick fingers could type a text, he heard angry shouts of his brothers mingled with Mikey's frantic screams and gunfire. Leo and Raph beat him to it. Donnie brandished his staff, and jumped out of the way just in time to dodge a knocked out Kraang flying through the air. He charged in and stumbled upon a sight that made his jaw drop.

Mikey was strapped to an operating table. Looming ominously over him was a large, long needle filled to the tip with some kind of thick, blood-red fluid. Superneuro Mutagen, no doubt. Mikey's head was clamped in place for the needle to inject the mutagen through his skull. Donnie rushed in with a loud, high-pitched shout to save Mikey.

The youngest turtle couldn't be more relieved to see his brothers. Minutes earlier, the Kraang had dragged him out of the cell, claiming that their "prototype" was finished and ready to be tested. His new mouse friend tagged along to attack the Kraang, but it was all in vain. It furiously scrabbled and bit on their metal robots, but the Kraang merely shook it off. The mouse only recovered to attack them again.

"No, mouse!" Mikey had shouted with panic. "You shouldn't have come with me! Now we're both gonna get fried."

The Kraang had led him into a room largely occupied by a huge vat of what Mikey only saw as red, goopy, dangerous-looking stuff. Mikey's heart pounded even faster and he felt his blood run cold.

"Y-you wanted to bring me here alive...for this!?"

The Kraang wheeling his operating table along responded, "The one they call Michelangelo is an ideal test subject for what the Kraang have created and call the Superneuro Mutagen. One with below average intelligence such as the one they call Michelangelo would best demonstrate the effects of a mutagen created to enhance intelligence."

Mikey really got it now. The mutagen would be best tested on and demonstrated by him: the idiot of the family.

He felt tears tug at the back of his eyes. 'I really am stupid...aren't I...?'

The Kraang moved Mikey in place and worked at the machine's controls. One Kraang swabbed a numbing agent across Mikey's forehead: the site of injection. Mikey cracked a grin. "Me, getting super smart from mutagen? That doesn't sound so bad at all."

Then he saw them. The pile of dead mice that were experimented on. The mice with bulbous tissue that burst through their fur. The mice that had failed to handle the mutagen. He would be next. That was when Mikey screamed.

At the same time Donnie, Raph, and Leo burst into the lab. Chaos and mayhem ensued as the testing abruptly halted.

"Mikey, we're here to save you!" Leo shouted.

"Nah, we're just here to take a nice, strolling tour through TCRI and then be on our merry way," Raph shot back with heated sarcasm.

Numerous armed Kraang streamed in from other rooms and hallways to deal with the threat of the three ninja turtles.

Donnie inched his way towards Mikey. "We're gonna have a long, serious talk after this!" he shouted. Several Kraang ambushed him from the side, preventing Donnie from getting any closer to free Mikey from his bonds.

The mouse huddled on Mikey's shoulder; he wished his hands weren't tied so he could comfort it with a soft pat. "It'll be okay," he assured it. "My bros always win the fight."

Unfortunately, the turtles were nowhere close to freeing Mikey or stopping the machine. They were pinned down by an angry hail of bright purple gunfire. Mikey struggled as hard as he could against the straps, but he couldn't break free. The Kraang still close to the controls seized the opportunity to inject the mutagen.

Leo, Raph, and Donnie cried out in simultaneous horror. The tip of the needle embedded itself into the middle of Mikey's forehead. The surge of liquid pouring into his brain made his whole body convulse and the table shake. His eyes bulged out and his tongue lolled as he shook. Some mutagen overflowed and drops of it splashed onto the mouse, throwing it into the same convulsions Mikey had. Then, just as quickly as it happened, it was over.

The bout of seizure stopped and Mikey's body went limp. The Kraang had stopped to watch the experiment proceed with hypnotic fascination, and the turtles now seized the chance to break through their ranks.

Tears of grief and rage streamed unchecked down Raph's face. He tore his sais into the Kraang like a bull through a china shop. "_You killed him_! You killed Mikey! You're gonna pay for what you did to our baby brother!"

Leo got there first. He pressed his ear to Mikey's chest, then felt his pulse. Immense relief lifted his distressed face. "Calm down Raph, Mikey's alive!" he exclaimed. "Let's get him out of here!"

Donnie frowned. "But how-"

"We'll worry about questions later," Raph cut in. "You heard Leo, let's go!"

They tore open the straps binding Mikey to the table. Donnie led the way out of TCRI while Leo and Raph carried an unconscious Mikey between them and fended off the Kraang at the same time. In the midst of all the chaos, they took no notice of the mutagen-covered mouse that still huddled on Mikey's prone body.


	4. Migraines and Algernon

**Pizza For Algernon (4)**

**Migraines and Algernon**

Mikey let out a groan that sounded far away and detached, like it didn't belong to him. Leo and Raph, who never left Mikey's side, audibly gasped and hovered closer. Donnie, who had left to retrieve a damp towel, was heading back when he saw Mikey stir. Donnie quickly closed the distance between them to press the cloth over his younger brother's bandaged forehead.

Mikey cracked his eyes open. Judging from the feel of a soft pillow against his head and the sight of his three brothers, he knew he was home. Then he remarked in a groggy slur: "Words can't describe how utterly elated I am at the moment."

Leo, Raph, and Donnie exchanged a wide-eyed look of shock. Not to mention skepticism. Now _that_ wasn't something they'd ever expect to hear from their little brother. Even Donnie, the smartest of the four, didn't talk like that.

The pitch of Raph's voice heightened from tentative inquiry. "Um...Mikey? How do you feel...?"

"Like my head is about to split open," Mikey replied with a grimace. With a ginger pat he touched the gauze wrapped around his head. "I feel the sides of my brain pounding against my skull. It's likely that I have an acute migraine."

The three brothers exchanged another wide-eyed look.

"I-I never thought you knew what a migraine meant," Leo finally stammered with surprise. "Wow."

Donnie's gaze didn't leave Mikey as he backed away. "Stay put. I'll get you some aspirin." As he headed for the kitchen to retrieve medicine from the cabinet, he figured that Mikey would need much more than a pill afterwards. The poor guy was injected with mutagen against his will, after all. Donnie urgently needed to check up on his brother to make sure he was okay. Mikey didn't mutate into a monster, much to Donnie's surprise and immense relief. They had seen with Dogpound, now Rahzar, how double mutation wreaked catastrophic havoc on the body and mind. Mixed concern and scientific curiosity compelled Donnie to investigate more into this so-called Superneuro Mutagen. Despite this, he knew that the wellbeing of his little brother came first.

Mikey swallowed the aspirin, along with a cup of water, without fuss. The brothers watched this with undisguised shock, because they knew he had a deathly fear of swallowing pills (which didn't make sense, because he had no trouble fitting whole subs, pizza, and other food into his big mouth). It was one big surprise after another.

Next, Donnie took Mikey's temperature with a small thermometer. He frowned thoughtfully as he read the result. "Hmm, body temperature seems normal. That's good."

Next he hurried to his lab to drag out a biofeedback machine. He pulled out two long, thin cables and approached Mikey with deliberate caution. "Hold still, Mikey, I'm just going to stick these on your head. They won't hurt you one bit."

"Oh, I know," Mikey casually replied. "Those are electrodes that will read my brain wave activity, right?"

Donnie blinked. "Y-yes, you're right. I'm glad you know what's going on." That saved him a lot of explaining, not to mention extra time wasted trying to calm him down. He attached the electrodes onto Mikey and turned on the biofeedback machine. Nothing happened for several seconds.

Raph glared at the blank screen and tapped his foot. "What's taking this hunk of junk so long?"

"This 'hunk of junk' needs some time to get a good reading, Raph," Donnie said mildly. "Not everything works at lightning speed like nowadays. Just be patient."

After a minute or two, a series of repeated, undulating waves flashed on the screen. Donnie scrutinized them thoughtfully, tapping a finger on his chin.

Leo couldn't handle the suspense any longer. "So what's the verdict?" he blurted out.

Donnie's eyes slowly widened the more he stared at the screen. "Mikey's beta brain wave activity is substantially stronger than the rest."

Raph quirked an eyebrow. "And...we're supposed to understand that?"

"Care to explain, Donnie?" Leo prompted.

"Studies in neuroscience and cognitive science have shown that activity of the brain can be read in different kinds of waves: alpha, beta, gamma, theta-"

"Speak English, Donnie," Raph cut in. "It's all Greek to me."

"You're likely using that as a metaphorical expression, but quite literally those words do have Greek origin," Mikey stated in a confident, matter-of-fact voice.

"You're...actually right," Donnie replied. Before Mikey could launch into what could possibly be an explanation of the meaning behind every Greek letter, Donnie quickly went on, "I'll get to the point: beta waves are the brain waves associated with reasoning and concentration. They're the kind of waves you use when you're thinking hard and really using your brain to solve problems or process concepts. The Superneuro Mutagen must have augmented Mikey's cognitive abilities."

"Basicially, the mutagen made Mikey really smart," Leo mused.

Donnie nodded.

Raph made a dramatic show of rolling his eyes. "That's obvious. Ever since Mikey woke up, he's been using big words like he swallowed a dictionary. How long will the mutagen's effects last, anyway?"

"I'm not sure," Donnie admitted. "I will need to get a sample of Mikey's brain cells and analyze them over a period of time." He ushered Leo and Raph to huddle closer so he can whisper out of Mikey's earshot: "He's been exposed to prototype mutagen from the Kraang...there has to be a catch to Mikey's accelerated intelligence. I'm afraid something bad's going to happen..."

"What, like Mikey getting so smart we can't understand him?" Raph asked with a snort. "What's so bad about that? Are you afraid he's gonna get smarter than you?"

"What? I'm not petty like that," Donnie shot back. He huffed an exasperated sigh and tried to rein in his temper. "Mikey seems fine now, but I'm genuinely concerned about this mutagen resulting in degenerative side effects."

"Whatever you say, man," Raph said with a shrug. "I kind of like the new Mikey."

"Me too," Leo admitted. "This could be a huge advantage for us, having another brainiac in the team. Maybe Mikey can help you out in your experiments and theories, Donnie. You won't have to do all the work by yourself anymore."

Donnie's lips tugged downward in a speculative frown. "That's true. I could really use some help around here."

"What are you guys whispering about?" Mkkey asked.

Leo, Raph, and Donnie turned back to look at their youngest brother, who still laid across the couch and peered at them with inquisitive eyes.

Donnie hoped the Superneuro Mutagen didn't give Mikey mind-reading powers as well. "To be honest, I'm worried about your long-term wellbeing. Do you mind if I monitor you and your bodily activities for a few days?"

"Not a problem," Mikey replied.

"I might have to monitor that mouse too. I think it was exposed to some mutagen the same time you were."

Mikey's eyes flew wide and he sat up. "Mouse? The one from TCRI? He's with us in the lair?"

"Yeah, I kept it in a cage back there."

To everyone's surprise, Mikey leapt straight out of the couch, yanked the electrodes from his forehead, and bolted to Donnie's lab space. He shot a glare at his brothers and pointed at the cage with an accusing finger. "Why did you do that to my friend? The poor guy's been in enough cages already! He was there for me when I was caught by the Kraang and you three didn't rescue me in time!"

Taken aback by Mikey's shouting, Donnie frantically waved his hands. "Mikey, calm down. I just did it for precautionary measures. I'll get him out of there, okay?"

Donnie quickly unlocked the cage to appease his younger brother. Dramatic mood swings was Raph's thing, not Mikey's. The mouse nimbly hopped out of the cage and into Mikey's outstretched hands. Then it rose on two legs and spoke in a quiet, cultured voice, "I appreciate your concern, Mikey, but your brothers have nothing but good intentions. I complied with Donnie's move to keep me in the cage, in case something goes awry."

No one said anything for several seconds. Raph's mouth dropped open. "That mouse talked!"

"Says the talking mutant turtle," the mouse said with a light chuckle.

"The mutagen must've done this," Donnie murmured.

"That's correct," the mouse replied. "I didn't get nearly as big of a frightening dose of it as Mikey did; nevertheless I've been exposed."

Donnie's gaze met the mouse's. "You've been in the TCRI lab longer than Mikey had. Do you know anything about the long-term effects of the Superneuro Mutagen, or what will happen to you two?"

The mouse's large ears lowered in dismay. "Unfortunately, I don't. I was literally kept in the dark about all this."

Mikey brought the mouse close to his chest in a protective embrace. "We're not letting him go back out there, right? The Kraang would want him back, so we need to protect him."

His older brothers exchanged hesitant, doubtful glances.

"I'll take good care of my new friend. I promise," Mikey asserted.

Leo gave in. "All right. Since you've changed, we hope you're more responsible this time around."

"Trust me, I will."

Raph crossed his arms and tilted his head questioningly. "So, does your mouse friend have a name?"

Mikey looked down at the mouse, but it shook its head.

"I was never given one. I'm just a test subject, nothing more."

"You're more than that now," Mikey said. "You're one of us. In return for the cheese you gave me back in our cell, I'll give you a good name." It didn't take Mikey long to process his accelerated thoughts, and his face brightened as he declared with confident solemnity: "His name will be Algernon."

Raph's eyebrows shot up. "Algernon? What kind of name is that?"

"A smart one. Isn't that nice for a change?"

Raph's skeptical look gave in as he chuckled. "Yeah, way better than the stupid nicknames from before."

The mouse smiled at Mikey. "I've never had a name until now, but I believe that Algernon will suit me just fine." Algernon's smile vanished as he grimaced and gripped a small paw to his head.

Mikey's face was one of worry and concern. "Algernon, what's wrong?"

"I have a headache," the mouse replied through gritted teeth.

"Donnie, where's the bottle of aspirin?"

Donnie handed Mikey the bottle with prompt quickness, and with deliberate care, Mikey broke a pill into even halves without crushing it between his big fingers.

"Here you go, Algernon. Given your size, you should probably take two doses a day."

Despite his pain, Algernon cracked a grin. "Thank you, Mikey. I'm glad you're my friend."

"Michelangelo, are you feeling better now?"

Everyone turned to see Splinter emerging from the dojo.

"You had me quite worried when I saw you brought back unconscious earlier. Donatello told me that the Kraang injected you with some kind of mutagen."

"I don't think we have anything to worry about, Sensei," Raph replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Apparently Mikey is super smart now."

"So I have heard." Splinter eyed Mikey with paternal concern. "Let us hope that we do not lose the brother your brothers know and the son I know."

Mikey was confused why his adopted father and master would say that. "I'm still me, Master Splinter. No mutagen can ever change that."

Donnie didn't say it loud, but he couldn't afford to get his hopes up. Ever the cautious one, he still planned to have Mikey and Algernon monitored for any sign of changes. Especially bad ones. Donnie cast a wary look at the biofeedback machine, its screen still flashing with the unnatural increase of beta brain waves.


End file.
